“Live as though you will die tomorrow, learn as though you will live for ever” Gandhi

Drive

Hi, I haven’t posted for the last few days for a whole host of reasons including: my sister visiting, writing more of my cook book, doing a little of a book a I started writing last year, writing an article for DUSA Media online, putting together some YouTube content as well as having a social life. All of this in mind though I should have some new and exciting stuff coming out soon so keep an eye out.

What I want to talk about today is the topic of drive; what motivates you to get out of bed every morning. I thought this would be interesting to explore as it is different for everyone. Some people are motivated by necessity to get up work and make a wage; however, others are driven by creativity and fun and with some it’s a combination of both.

We all must admit at some points we do things out of necessity but that shouldn’t be what fundamentally drives you. This is something I took away from an exhibition piece that I saw the other day which included a series of white shirts on a wall, black trousers, black shoes, black belt, black tie. I must admit to first it meant little to me and even with the hint of the title of “repeat until meaningful” I didn’t quite twig, but when it was explained to me by a very smart and interesting artist last night, I went back and looked at it and appreciated what it symbolises; it symbolises the idea of lack of true satisfying of the soul in a white shirt office job. We are all creative to some degree and it may be creative in different ways but when you are constrained to the same plain, menial tasks day in day out without being creative you are affectively just repeating a meaningless task. Thus the title “repeat until meaningful”.

Drive then is not something that forces us to get up in the morning ie the white shirt job, but is instead the thing that makes us want to get up. My drive is based in writing and art. I am driven to write a new page in my cookbook, a couple of pages for my book, write a blog post, make a piece of jewellery, paint a picture and the list goes on. My drive is having something physical to show for a day as I linked into before in a previous post “Why Write?”

While I am driven by this physical result many aren’t. Their drive could be to hear play or hear some new music, sports or perhaps deeper things such as caring for others. Making a change can be a real driving force as it is, at least in my opinion, something everyone wants to achieve. I know that, although I am driven on a day to day basis by creating something to show for my day, I am never more motivated or enthusiastic than when I am doing something that has the potential to help others.

I think that in the modern world people are too caught up in work and strict education that they believe that is what really drives them so when people or laid off or find they have a lot of spare time outside of education or work they can lose motivation, even fall into depression. If you feel there is no positive side to getting up in the morning you might just not. If we embrace the idea that our true drive comes from our creativity, in whatever form it comes, then even in tough times we have something to hold onto because you can lose jobs, education, money, family and friends but no one can take away that creativity.